The ball wasn't even supposed to go to Rylee Bess.

With 17.4 seconds to play, trailing Purdue by two points in the home opener on Wednesday night, Purdue Fort Wayne called timeout and drew up a play for junior forward Lili Krasovec, who had already scored 15 points and drawn seven fouls from the Boilermakers.

But Krasovec was double-teamed under the basket, so she kicked the ball out to Bess, a 5-foot-6 freshman from Pickerington, Ohio, playing in her first game at the Gates Sports Center. Bess pulled up to the 3-point line and released a perfect shot that gave the Mastodons a 68-67 lead with 5.7 seconds left on the clock.

Purdue immediately called timeout, giving the Mastodons and their fans a few moments for raucous celebration. The PFW defense held firm for one final play, preventing

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